On day three at the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi, the fairy tale for the local organisers would of course have been for their two -90 kg heroes reaching the final of the European Championships, to ensure two Georgian flags would hang over the podium. It wasn’t to be!
Lasha Bekauri, gold backpatch firmly in place, had a dynamic run to the semi-final but there he met Nemanja Majdov (SRB) who seemed to be a man on a mission in Tbilisi. Majdov took full control at 3m59s and with only that one short second left on the clock he arrmlocked the Georgian. The stunned crowed were immediately silent; the dream was over.
Luka Maisuradze, however, on the other half of the draw, stayed focused until the semi-final mission was completed. He managed to reach the final, countering Alex Cret (ROU) for a decisive waza-ari.
In the final, Maisuradze’s sleeve control was on point but Majdov knew that was coming and neutralised any attacks that came. Doing enough to avoid a collection of penalties, both judoka worked hard to not make mistakes and the time ticked away. The need for a golden score period became inevitable. There, Luka finally found a way to use his steely sleeve grip and threw the Serbian. A waza-ari was logged next to his name on the scoreboard; the title was his. The cheers in the arena were deafening; the hosts would hear their anthem on day 3!
In the first bronze medal contest, Alex Cret of Romania made light work of the challenge, throwing Thomas Scharfetter for waza-ari with seoi-otoshi almost immediately after the fight began. He transitioned perfectly into kuzure-yoko-shiho-gatame and the fight finished there. It was a great way to end a really positive day for Cret. He beat third seed Fatiyev (AZE) and Olympic medallist Maxime-Gael Ngayap-Hambou (FRA) on his way to the final block; no mean feat.
In the second bronze medal contest, Lasha Bekauri arrived and the crowd erupted. The double Olympic champion, who they thought would be in the final, was not, beaten by 2017 world champion Nemanja Majdov (SRB) in their semi-final. Ngayap-Hambou had an immense bronze-medal-battle ahead of him!
The Frenchman looked focused and professional from the outset, preparing his grips, always ready to move fast and change the momentum away from Bekauri’s unorthodox style. He had set himself up with a solid plan.
After just a minute, he countered Bekauri for a waza-ari. No-one could believe it but the crowd was sure their athlete would still win. They leant him their energy and he came back at the Frenchman, attacking again. Ngayap-Hambou was ready and threw with a soto-makikomi to finish the fight. This was an incredible performance, fuelled by a strong mindset. France’s Olympic medallist now had his second European medal in as many years.
Author: Jo Crowley